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"Drug dreams", or the dreams in which drug-dependent patients use or attempt to use the drugs that they are addicted to, are a well-documented clinical phenomenon in various forms of drug addiction. Authors have highlighted their clinical, prognostic and therapeutic usefulness, since they provide information about the patients’ “drug craving”, thei...
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... frequent contents are "unsuccessfully attempting to use drugs" (Table 3). For example, in a recent study that involved alcoholic patients under detoxification treatment, most of the patients who dreamt of alcohol also consumed alcohol in their dreams (83% were drinking alcohol in their dreams) (Steinig, Foraita, Happe, & Heinze, 2011). ...
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Citations
... However, other individuals express feelings of guilt and/or regret after seeing themselves using drugs in their dreams (Hajek and Belcher 1991, Christo and Franey 1996, Reid and Simeon 2001, Colace 2004. Conversely, some individuals who dream about using drugs experience emotions such as anger and frustration upon realising that they did not actually use drugs in real life (Flowers and Zweben 1998, Colace 2004, 2018. DD are frequently perceived by clinicians as being analogous to infantile dreams due to their brevity, simplicity, and explicit content. ...
... DD are frequently perceived by clinicians as being analogous to infantile dreams due to their brevity, simplicity, and explicit content. Such dreams are typically regarded as fulfilling the individual's desire for drug use, with minimal censorship (Choi 1973, Colace 2004, 2018. ...
... In Type A dreams, the individual typically engages in drug use and experiences pleasure as a result. Upon waking, individuals frequently report feelings of guilt or regret associated with their drug use in the dream, yet also a sense of relief upon realising that they did not actually use drugs in reality (Colace 2000(Colace , 2018. In contrast, Type B dreams, in which the attempt to use drugs is unsuccessful, often result in feelings of frustration or anger upon waking, as the individual realises that they did not actually use drugs (Flowers andZweben 1998, Colace 2018). ...
Drug-related dreams are defined as dreams experienced by individuals with a substance use disorder during the withdrawal or recovery process. Studies indicate that authors interpret all drug-related dreams as reflections of the attempts by individuals with addiction to fulfill their drug use desires at varying levels of satisfaction. The absence of an explanation in the literature regarding the manner and rationale behind the fulfilment of drug cravings by drug-related dreams (Type A or Type B) to varying degrees (sufficiently or insufficiently) indicates that the gratification derived from such dreams – presumed to alleviate the desire for drug use – has been inferred from prognostic findings and presumptions concerning patients’ periods of abstinence. It is noteworthy that there is a similarity between dreams experienced by individuals with substance use disorders who wish to use the substance but are unable to do so for various reasons and failure-related examination dreams. Instead of a hypothesis that drug-related dreams with different content and emotions provide varying levels of satisfaction, examining them through the lens of the censorship mechanism in dreams may reveal that these types of dreams attempt to fulfill distinct desires. The objective of the current paper is to analyse substance-related dreams and typical dreams, including those related to examinations, in light of neuroscientific evidence and interpretations. In particular, the focus will be on Freud's views on the censorship mechanism in dreams, as well as the theoretical perspectives of Jung and Kohut.
... In DDs, themes may include searching for the substance, trying to use it, seeing it but not using it or being unable to use it, declining the substance when offered, or observing others using it (Reid and Simeon 2001, Colace 2004, Tanguay et al. 2015, Colace 2018. These dreams are commonly reported within the first week of abstaining from substance use, but they can persist for weeks, months, or even years after stopping the use of the substance. ...
... These dreams are commonly reported within the first week of abstaining from substance use, but they can persist for weeks, months, or even years after stopping the use of the substance. However, it has been observed that as the duration of treatment extends and recovery progresses, there is a decline in the frequency of these dreams (Colace 2004(Colace , 2018. Some individuals dependent on substances who have DDs feel relieved upon waking and realizing they did not actually use any substance (Reid and Simeon 2001, Colace 2004, Tanguay et al. 2015. ...
... Some individuals dependent on substances who have DDs feel relieved upon waking and realizing they did not actually use any substance (Reid and Simeon 2001, Colace 2004, Tanguay et al. 2015. Conversely, others may experience guilt or regret after dreaming about using substances (Reid and Simeon 2001, Colace 2004, 2018. Additionally, there are cases where individuals feel anger and disappointment when they wake up to find they haven't used any substance, contrary to their dreams (Colace 2004(Colace , 2018. ...
Drug-related dreams (DD) are dreams experienced by addicted individuals during withdrawal or recovery processes, containing various content related to substance use. Nowadays, it has been suggested that drug-related dreams have a two-way prognostic value, positively and negatively influencing individuals' desires for substance use. While DDs are routinely implemented as a relapse prevention strategy in some addiction clinics abroad, the clinical significance of such dreams has not been sufficiently recognized in our country yet. This editorial aims to provide definitions of these types of dreams and offer practical recommendations for implementation in addiction clinics in our country, which could be significant.
... Finally, the control mastery theory suggests that dreams reflect concerns that could not be solved through conscious thoughts alone (Gazzillo et al., 2020). To illustrate the effect of concerns on dreaming, women in the process of divorce sometimes dream about their ex-spouse (Cartwright et al., 2006); individuals in bereavement tend to dream about their lost ones (Barrett, 1992;Black et al., 2019); pregnant women dream of pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood more often than nonpregnant controls (Dagan et al., 2001;Lara-Carrasco et al., 2013;Nielsen & Paquette, 2007;Sabourin et al., 2018); individuals with a substance use disorder commonly experience drug dreams after withdrawal (Colace, 2014;Johnson, 2012); and a large proportion of students who anticipate an important exam dream about it (Arnulf et al., 2014). ...
... The phenomenon of drug dreams might allow to test hypothesis 6 from the FPT, more precisely, the effect of dream feelings (variable G in Figure 1) on the feeling component of fear and hope/desire (variable D). Most drug dreams are experienced during withdrawal or prolonged abstinence (Colace, 2014;Johnson, 2012). For example, during the first month of abstinence, 33% of individuals with a nicotine dependence and 89% of individuals with a cocaine dependence experience at least one drug dream (Hajek & Belcher, 1991;Reid & Simeon, 2001). ...
This article presents the feeling priming theory (FPT) of dreaming. According to the FPT, dreaming favors the motivation to avoid aversive anticipated events and to approach gratifying anticipated events. It is suggested that one component of anticipated emotions—anticipated feelings—is reproduced in dreams. Upon awakening and during the day, these anticipated feelings would remain activated (primed) in memory. Consequently, anticipated emotions would exert a greater influence on avoidance and approach behaviors, mainly through an increase in the intensity of anticipatory feelings (i.e., feelings of fear or hope/desire). This article comprises five main sections. First, the need for a new theory of the function of dreaming is addressed. Second, key constructs of the theory are described, including the constructs of “emotion” and “feeling.” Third, a brief overview of the theory is presented. Fourth, seven hypotheses that constitute the core of the theory are discussed along with supporting evidence. Fifth, an explanation of nightmares based on the proposed theory is offered. The FPT represents an alternative to theories that attribute an emotion regulation function to dreaming. It offers a new perspective on the relationship between dreaming and waking emotions. In particular, the FPT does not label nightmares as dysfunctional. Instead, nightmares and other dysphoric dreams are hypothesized to result from the same processes as normal dreaming.
... With the functional deficit of the ML DA-SEEKING, a restricted cortico-centric pattern of brain activity, inseparably linked to the representation of objects or the implementation of procedural habits, strictly controls the SEEKING system and the intrinsic dynamism of the mindbrain. Coincidentally, the analysis of the dreams of patients with drug addiction reveals a gradual impoverishment of the content of dream fantasies which lose their complexity and end up focusing almost exclusively on the simple hallucinatory satisfaction of drug cravings (Colace, 2014). In contrast, the practice of meditation (mindfulness), and other forms of focused attention, have been shown to have beneficial effects in treating addictions, especially in reducing craving (Chiesa and Serretti, 2014;Ashe et al., 2015;Tapper, 2018). ...
Neuro-ethological studies conducted by Panksepp and his colleagues have provided an understanding of how the activity of the mesolimbic dopaminergic (ML DA) system leads to the emotional disposition to SEEK/Explore, which is involved in all appetitive motivated behavior and mental activity. In pathological addiction phenomena, this emotional disposition “fixes” itself on certain obsessive-compulsive habits, losing its versatility and its natural predisposition to spontaneous and unconditioned activation. Overall, the result is a consistent disinterest in everything that is not the object of addiction. From a neuro-psycho-evolutionary point of view, the predisposition to develop addictive behavior can be attributed to a loss of “functional autonomy” of the SEEKING/Explorative disposition. Indeed, as shown by animal and human studies, the tendency to be conditioned by situations and contexts that provide an immediate reward can be closely related to a deficit in the tonic endogenous activity of the ML DA-SEEKING system.
... Compliant copy dreams of episodic memory can be found in highly traumatic situations charged with negative emotions (especially in subject showing symptoms of PTSD) as well as in those situations affected with positive emotions, such as desire (in particular, the desire for drugs). 'Drugs dreams' (Colace, 2014) have a very simple content that usually refers to what is experimented during waking life. They lack of bizarre elements or any covering up of the satisfaction of the desire and the subject has an active role in its drug search. ...
Within the current clinical practice, the debate on the use of dream is still very topical. In this article, the author suggests to address this question with a notable scientific and cultural openness that embraces either the psychoanalytic approach (classical, modern and intersubjective), and the neurophysiological assumptions and both clinical research and cognitive hypotheses. The utility of dream - in the clinical work with patients - is supported by the author with extensive bibliographic references and personal clinical insights, drawn from his experience as a psychotherapist. Results: From an analysis of recent literature on this topic, the dream assumes a very different function and position in the clinical practice: from ‘via regia to the unconscious’ of Freudian theories - an expression of repressed infantile wishes of libidinal or aggressive drive nature - it becomes the very fulcrum of the analysis, a fundamental capacity to be developed, a necessary and decisive element for the patient’s transformation. The dream can also be use with the function of thinking and mentalization, of problem solving, of adaptation, as well as an indicator of the relationship with the therapist in the analytic dialogue or of dissociated aspects of the self. Finally, the author proposes a challenging reading of the clinical relevance of dream: through listening to the dream, the clinician can help the patient to stand in the spaces of his own self in a more open and fluid way and therefore to know himself better, to regulate his affects, to think and to integrate oneself.
... Psychotherapeutic and psychological consulting sessions with outpatients who are addicted to drugs have rarely involved the use of classical psychoanalytic dream interpretation. However, recently, emphasis has been placed on the occurrence of one specific type of a dream, the so-called drug dreams (or drug-related dreams) (Colace, 2014a). In these dreams, the drug addicts use or attempt to use their drug of choice (or otherwise seek, handle, or buy drugs) (Christo & Faney, 1996;Colace, 2000Colace, , 2004Colace, , 2014aYee, Perantie, Dhanani, & Brown, 2004;Tanguay, Zadra, Good, & Leri, 2015). ...
... However, recently, emphasis has been placed on the occurrence of one specific type of a dream, the so-called drug dreams (or drug-related dreams) (Colace, 2014a). In these dreams, the drug addicts use or attempt to use their drug of choice (or otherwise seek, handle, or buy drugs) (Christo & Faney, 1996;Colace, 2000Colace, , 2004Colace, , 2014aYee, Perantie, Dhanani, & Brown, 2004;Tanguay, Zadra, Good, & Leri, 2015). Several studies have shown that drug dreams are a well-documented clinical phenomenon in all forms of drug addiction (i.e., alcohol, heroin, cocaine, tobacco, lysergic acid diethylamide [LSD], and benzodiazepine) with comparable frequency, phenomenology, and clinical ORIGINAL RESEARCH www.addicta.com.tr ...
... Several studies have shown that drug dreams are a well-documented clinical phenomenon in all forms of drug addiction (i.e., alcohol, heroin, cocaine, tobacco, lysergic acid diethylamide [LSD], and benzodiazepine) with comparable frequency, phenomenology, and clinical ORIGINAL RESEARCH www.addicta.com.tr usefulness (Sòrio, Schiefelbein, Balbinot, Santos, & Araujo, 2016;Silva & Nappo, 2019;Choi, 1973;Christo & Faney, 1996;Colace, 2004;2006;2014a;Hajek & Belcher 1991;Parker & Alford, 2009;Steinig, Foraita, Happe, & Heinze, 2011;Yee, Perantie, Dhanani, & Brown, 2004;Frías Ortiz, León Alegria, Fernández Guerra, Ali Al Shaban, Fernández Miranda, & Gonzalez Fernández, 2016). Drug dreams are often short, with simple and clear content that refers directly to daytime experiences and do not require interpretation to understand their meaning. ...
Abstract
Drug dreams, i.e., dreams in which drug-addicted patients use or attempt to use drugs, are a well-documented clinical phenomenon in drug addiction. These dreams offer a useful way to understand the vicissitudes of drug craving in patients who are drug addicts as well as their ability to cope with it. Authors consider drug dreams as a valuable clinical tool in the treatment of drug addiction. Although pathological gambling disorder is a form of behavioral addiction that has several aspects in common with substance addiction, gambling dreams (i.e., dreams about gambling) are seldom described in scientific literature. This study aimed to provide the first systematic investigation on the presence of “gambling dreams” among abstinent pathological gamblers. A total of 10 individuals who arrived consecutively for outpatient treatment at the Centre for Drug Addiction were evaluated on the basis of South Oaks Gambling Scale. They also completed a questionnaire on gambling dreams. The results showed that most pathological gamblers report gambling dreams. These dreams can be considered in terms of frequency, content, and relationship with craving in the same way as drug dreams for drug addiction. Further studies might also shed light on the clinical utility of gambling dreams for treatment of pathological gamblers.
Keywords: Gambling disorder, gambling dreams, drug dreams, drug craving, addiction.
Main Points
• This study shows for the first time the presence of gambling dreams, i.e. dreams about the craving to
gamble, in a group of pathological gambler outpatients, offering some insight on the vicissitudes of
the patients’ craving and their propensity to cope with it.
• The gambling dreams reported here are absolutely comparable, also in terms of contents, with drug
dreams in drug addictions. These dreams have the craving to gamble as their main theme, just as
drug dreams focus on craving for drug.
• These initial observations apparently support the hypothesis that gambling dreams can be considered, in terms of appearance / frequency, content, and relationship with craving, in the same way as
drug dreams in other forms of addiction.
• The same type of clinical and prognostic usefulness would seem to arise for gambling dreams, as it
does for drug dreams in the treatment of drug-addicted patients.
... Moreover, there is considerable, if not decisive, extra-clinical evidence supportive of at least qualified versions of Freud's core ideas. This includes his claims about the existence of repression and unconscious thought (Ryckman et al. 2018;Kikuchi et al. 2010;Lambert et al. 2010;Anderson and Levy 2009;Anderson and Levy 2006;Anderson et al. 2004;Anderson and Green 2001;Westen 1998), his theory of hysteria (Hassa et al. 2017;Nicholson et al. 2016;Aybek et al. 2014;Kanaan et al. 2007), his theory of dreams (Colace 2014;Colace 2010;Solms and Turnbull 2002;Solms 1995Solms , 2000, his theory of transference (Andersen and Przybylinski 2012;Berk and Andersen 2000;Andersen and Glassman 1996), and his metapsychological ideas (Carhart-Harris and Friston 2010). The research on which this evidence is based is taken seriously within the respective scientific fields, and much of it is recent and more sophisticated than previous research that has been claimed to undermine Freud's ideas. ...
Despite its profound influence on modern thought, psychoanalysis remains peripheral to the concerns of most analytic philosophers. I suggest that one of the main reasons for this is intellectual reservation, and explore some philosophical arguments against psychoanalysis that may be contributing to such reservation. Specifically, I address the objections that psychoanalytic theories are unfalsifiable, that the purported findings of psychoanalysis are readily explained as due to suggestion, that there is a troubling lack of consensus in psychoanalytic interpretation, and that there is a lack of support for psychoanalysis within mainstream science. I also consider a major obstacle to the acceptance of contemporary defenses of psychoanalysis: the “bad lot” argument against Inference to the Best Explanation. My conclusion is that, though these objections have some merit, they are not sufficient reasons for not taking psychoanalytic ideas seriously.
... Reviews on dreaming following exposure to traumatic events mainly focus on individuals without a PTSD or on the treatment of nightmares, rather than on the experience of nightmares (Campbell & Germain, 2016;Duval & Zadra, 2010;Wittman & de Dassel, 2015). Other reviews focus on the dreams of individuals suffering from a sleep disorder (insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome; Schredl, 2009), a borderline personality disorder (BPD; Schredl, 2016), or an SUD (Colace, 2014;Johnson, 2012). Kramer and Nuhic (2007;see also Kramer, 2010;Kramer & Roth, 1978) review studies on the dreams of individuals suffering from any mental disorder. ...
No review has specifically focused on the experience of nightmares in individuals with a mental disorder. With a better understanding of nightmares in this population, clinicians will be more inclined to investigate for the presence of chronic nightmares, to consider nightmares for prognosis, and to treat this sleep difficulty independently from other mental disorders. Therefore, this narrative review aims to summarize the most relevant literature on the experience of nightmares in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depressive disorders and bipolar disorders, anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, substance use disorders, autism spectrum disorder, eating disorders, and personality disorders. Differences in the experience of nightmares between mental disorders are also addressed. Expectedly, the positive relationship between nightmares and PTSD is the most empirically supported. Empirical data generally support a positive relationship between nightmares and other mental disorders, with the autism spectrum disorder being an exception. Moreover, the presence of nightmares in individuals with a mental disorder is often associated with poorer mental health, poorer sleep, and a greater risk for suicide. In conclusion, this review highlights the importance for clinicians to investigate for the presence of chronic nightmares along with other sleep difficulties (most commonly, insomnia and sleep apnea), to consider the potential influence of nightmares on the course of the primary mental disorder, and to be prepared to grant access to treatments targeting nightmares.
... Vários pesquisadores têm demonstrado que é comum o relato de sonhos com conteúdos relacionados ao consumo de drogas entre pacientes que buscam tratamento para a dependência de substâncias psicoativas [12][13][14][15][16] . ...
... Os sonhos de uso, objeto desta pesquisa, são definidos como experiências vívidas, subjetivas que ocorrem durante o sono cuja a importância está centrada no fato de conterem tópicos relacionados com drogas, tais como: elementos do ritual de uso, cenas de busca e consumo da droga, etc. 13,25 . ...
Resumo O objetivo deste artigo é descrever os conteúdos dos sonhos dos usuários de crack, de acordo com sua visão, e analisar a interferência que produzem no processo de abstinência. Pesquisa qualitativa com 21 usuários de crack. Consumir a droga durante o sonho significou o fracasso ou uma forma compensatória de prazer ou de alerta a potenciais recaídas; não consumir a droga significou sintomas de abstinência ou o sucesso em ter vencido a dependência. A interpretação dada aos sonhos pode levar os usuários de crack à fissura e recaída. Os resultados podem contribuir para intervenções terapêuticas eficazes.
... Nel corso dello sviluppo già a partire dai 6 anni il sogno si complica mostrando caratteristiche più vicine ai comuni sogni degli adulti (maggiore lunghezza, bizzarria e scarsa comprensibilità) a causa di una maggiore presenza di materiale rimosso alla base del sogno. Il sogno "infantile" può ripresentarsi nell'adulto ma solo in presenza di forti deprivazione di bisogni biologici e/o impellenti (Freud, 1915-17;Colace, 2009) o desideri patologici, come i sogni sull'uso di droghe (drug dreams) nell'addiction (Colace, 2014). ...
INFANTILE DREAMS IN PATIENTS WITH FRONTAL DEFICITS: PRELIMINARY RESULTS Clinical-anatomical study has shown some utility for understanding different aspects of dreaming. A first study dating back to the 1950s (Frank, 1950) and two recent exploratory investigations (Blake, 2014; Colace, Salotti, & Ferreira, 2015) have suggested an “infantile” type of dreaming (i.e., direct wish-fulfilment dreams of, lack of dream bizarreness, etc.) in patients with frontal defecit (and some interconnected structures, e.g. amygdala). Classicly, the infantile dreams of preschool children are attributed to the incomplete development of the ego (lesser domain of thought on motivational drives) and the superego (less presence of removed material at the basis of dreams) (Freud, 1900). In this perspective, the infantile dream of frontal patients was interpreted as the result of a hypo-activity of some executive functions involved in the processes of the ego and the superego (e.g., adaptation to reality, self-regulation of emotional and social behavior, inhibition, etc.) that may have led to a lesser ability of the subject to desist from the satisfaction of everyday whishes. This study is an attempt to replicate the presence of infantile dreams in patients with frontal deficit. We examined 10 patients (6 females and 4 males), between 68 and 79 years of age, who, on the basis of instrumental examinations (SPET, RM), were shown to have frontal deficits. In addition to a battery of neuropsychological tests, patients were interviewed on the ”last dream they remember having had”. Dream reports were transcribed and analyzed with respect the presence of a direct wish-fulfilment and other ”infantile” dimensions. The typical neuropsychological profile of the examined patients is represented by a space and time-oriented subject, with general cognitive functions at the limits of the norm, good reasoning and language, memory in the norm. On the level of cognitive functions typically shows deficits in some executive functions, particularly as regards the ability to inhibit non-relevant automatic response and attentional shifting but not in other executive functions such as decision-making and scheduling. Of the 10 patients examined, 5 reported ”infantile” dreams, 2 anxiety dream, 2 did not remember any dream, 1 reported a typically bizarre dream. This study is in line with previous observations on the presence of a ”infantile” type of dreaming in patients with frontal defects (Blake, 2014; Colace, Salotti, Ferreira, 2015). The presence of infantile dreams can be interpreted as the result of deficit in executive aspects involved in the functions of the ego and the superego relating to the area of the of impulse inhibition, regulation of emotional behavior, and cognitive flexibility, which normally do not allow common desires to be eligible for the trigger of the dream.
